Monday, May 01, 2006

May Day

It's an old May Day custom to give May Baskets filled with flowers and treats to your friends. I didn't think real flowers would hold up well at school, and what schoolkid really needs another piece of candy? So I'm surprising shmoo with sheets of flower stickers instead.

For lunch I made cream cheese spirals: wholegrain dough spread with vegan cream cheese and a sprinkle of chopped fresh herbs (basil, parsley, thyme, and dill), rolled up like a cinnamon roll, cut it into slices, and baked. On the side are an Odwalla Chocolate Chip Peanut Nourishing Food Bar and a fruit salad of strawberries, orange, and banana. Beverage: Kagome Purple Roots & Fruits Juice, a veggie/fruit juice combo. "Wow...now I can drink my vegetables!" the bottle enthuses. Let's see if shmoo will say the same...

Verdict: He drank all the juice! It tastes mostly of grapes and blueberries; you would never guess it contains spinach, beets, cabbage, etc. At the last minute I worried that I hadn't packed enough food for him, and threw in two more spirals. I shouldn't have worried; he ate the bar and all the cream cheese spirals, but then got too full to finish the fruit salad. Four would have been just right. 4 stars.

I noticed that soy lecithin was one of the ingredients in many Odwalla bars (although I don't know about the one shmoo ate today), and have always assumed that this ingredient was not vegan. I've also seen it in some breads too. Have I been sadly missinformed all along?

Hi, vegineer -- From what I've read, May Day began in Europe as an ancient pagan rite of spring, also known as Beltane. I believe it's still more widely known in the UK than here in the states. But I'm all for spreading a holiday that involves sharing lots of flowers and leaving little baskets on friend's doorsteps. :-)

Hi, College Vegan -- Soy lecithin is derived from soy:

http://www.solae.com/company/soyessentials/soylecithin.html

I don't see anything in the description that would render it nonvegan.

Every May Day one of my friends rings our doorbell twice and when we go to the door no one's there. Then we find a cute little assortment of flowers and a homemade card attached to them all wrapped in ribbon and tied to the door knob. So sweet!

Wow, that juice sounds amazing. I, too, like the Vruit juices, but may have to try this brand as well! My kids like the Odwalla Superfood drink (we called it "kiwi-juice" so the kids would try it, and the name stuck).

so sweet.. I forgot all about making those types of treats. roll & slice.. I'll have to do something like that! i've been making lots of pies/cakes recently out of laziness (I love cookies but I find it to be more work, haha)I also love the flower stickers idea.. that May Day custom sounds great!

brianna, there is a link under the "Links" part of the Vegan Lunch Box site that Jennifer has posted that I think might do a good job of answering your question --http://www.veganoutreach.org/whyvegan/I hope that helps!

Milk: many cows used to produce milk actually are subject to disgusting conditions and then discarded when they can no longer produce milk. also, many question drinking milk because no other animal drinks milk beyond infancy- never mind the milk of a different animal!

Honey: when the bees have made enough honey to be sold, they are removed from their hives by shaking or smoking the hives, which kills bees in the process.

a) Vruit is good! I drank it after my wisdom teeth were taken out to get some fruit & veggie goodness. I was surprised at how much I liked it -- much better than V8 splash (which is heavy on the carrot juice and corn syrup!)

b) I used to bring cookies (made by Mom and I, and definitely not vegan) to my neighbors' doorsteps and run off. I plan on definitely continuing the tradition with my own little ones (whenever they come along)!

c) brianna -- don't forget, there are also health reasons to eat less animal products! take a look at the food guide pyramid -- most of the pyramid is vegan, and the parts that aren't have lots of vegan options.

Must say again how much I loove your site. I enjoy the picture with description of the thoughtful way you pack Shmoo's lunches. Does your family enjoy Tabouleh, whole wheat mini pitas, hummus and falafel? I thought that would be a cute lunch as well, since occasionally you pack themed cultural lunches and it would stay cold nicely.

Im so excited! I just saw a recipe on TV that looked like you would like it and that can easily be veganized. I think though that Shmoo would hate it. It is a marinated carrot sandwich. Of course leave the anchovies out of the tapenade (they are gross anyway) and maybe you could replace the goat cheese with herbed veggie cream cheese. Here is the link:

Ive had some questions about the milk/ honey thing too, so Im so glad someone brought it up. I have often said the same thing about no other animals drinking milk of other animals, but they do if they can get to it (by humans giving it to them). In the wild it would be pretty wierd for an adult animal to nurse on another adult animal! So besides that, would vegans be opposed to drinking milk from a cow that was someone's pet and that was treated kindly and not intended for future slaughter? We had cows and goats at my school which were raised on a biodynamic farm and they were deeply loved and we did use their milk, which was raw. I have often wondered about this and what vegans would think of this situation. I would love to hear some ideas, just out of curiosity. The honey thing I dont think there's a solution to because you just cant avoid hurting the bees without them hurting you instead.

Good question! I asked about honey before and got no answer, so I'm curious, too. If milk-giving animals or honey bees are kept humanely, what is the vegan view on using those products? Also, what about wool products (from animals kept in the same ethical manner)? And finally (please forgive me my curiosity), what is the vegan take on eating insects? Not that I've ever considered it, but I know some people do.

along with the above reasons, there is also the fact that milking cows are hooked up to metal machines that pull on their udders all day which is painful and causes infections, so the cows are kept on antibiotics.Also, the cows are usually kept pregnant so they produce more milk and when the calves are born, they are either shipped to veal farms or slaughtered so their stomach lining can be used in the cheese making process. (Casein is a milk protein that is made from the stomach lining of a calf.)One great resource is http://notmilk.com

Those cream cheese spirals remind me a lot of something my mother used to make, she called them "Mini-blinnies," as in mini-blintzes. Slices of bread (I prefer whole grain, but I'm sure she used white) spread with cream cheese (vegan would definitely work!) mixed with cinnamon or fruit puree, and rolled into tight little logs. She would then sprinkle the tops with cinnamon or brush on some more fruit puree, and then bake them in the oven. They were delicious and froze exceptionally well if they didn't all get eaten, for another time when I was hungry and wanted them.